DHAKA, Nov. 20, Reuter: Shrugging off a torchlight march by protesters demanding his resignation, Bangladeshi President Hossain Mohammad Ershad said opponents preparing for ‘a weekend general strike were creating a “Frankenstein” to grab power.

“Those who want my government of go are not friends of democracy. They love anarchy and vandalism”, he told senior officials on Thursday.

“They are creating a Franken stein with only one purpose — to grab power”, Ershad, who staged a military coup and toppled a civilian government in 1982, told the meeting.

He reiterated his refusal to step down after some 5,000 opposition supporters staged a torchlight march on the streets of the country’s capital, Dhaka, in a warm-up for the 48hour general strike on Saturday.

Twenty-one opposition parties have called the strike to maintain. The momentum of work stoppages and rallies that bit Bangladesh last week.

The parties plan to stage more marches and hold public rallies on Friday afternoon to build up more support for the new strikes which are part of a national campaign to force Ershad to quit.

 

Seven civilians and two policemen were killed in clashes during the last week’s strikes. Government said the stoppage cost the ‘country some 40 million dollars in Production losses and damage to property.

Ershad has put two main opposition leaders, Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia, under House arrests; He has also ordered police to shoot rioters on sight,

He accused the opposition of ‘inciting riots during which activists ‘exploded hundreds of homemade. Grenades. He said the bombers could one day turn against the opposition itself. His attempts to open talks with Hasina and Khaleda failed after both leaders rebuffed a government proposal for new elections if they called off their protests:

Opposition leads Sajed Choudhury said their protests would follow the weekend strike,

“There will be no let up until we have achieved our one and only goal —— the resignation of the President. All our problems will be solved if this man goes”, she said.

 

Article extracted from this publication >>  November 27, 1987